MLB Awards Should Be About Individuals, Not Teams

(Originally published 9/29/2010 in "The Montclarion")

The two most desired awards in Major League Baseball, the Cy Young and Most Valuable Player, are going to be announced at the end of the regular season. Baseball players compete and play to receive the honor. It’s an individual award meant to be given to the most valuable ‘‘player’’ for that season, not for the most valuable ‘‘team’’ player. That part is left out. The Cy Young award is no different, it’s given to the most dominant pitcher for the season, not the ace that gets his team to the playoffs.

Tigers’ first baseman Miguel Cabrera put up MVP-type numbers in 2010, but may miss on an MVP award by playing on a non-playoff team.

In fact, the worse the team does, the more that individual player has to do. It’s easier to pitch around one good player than to deal with a line-up full of good athletes. And if the player’s team can’t hit, the pitcher is going to have to step up his game to another level just to give their team a chance to win.

I give the media credit. They do take votes away from players that are on good teams or have a good cast of players around them in the batting order, but essentially those players are taking votes away from their fellow teammates if they are that good.

This year, Miguel Cabrera, aside from Jose Bautista’s home run count, which I’ll mention later, is putting up nearly triple-crown numbers (to win the triple-crown a player has to lead the league in batting average, homeruns and runs-batted-in), but is stumbling, in expert’s opinions, out of first place to win the MVP because his team is in third place and eliminated from playoff contention. Jose Bautista, however, is regrettably stuck on the Toronto Blue Jays, they’re in fourth place in their division and have no chance of making the playoffs, but he still hit 52 home runs this season. The next closest player, in either league, has 42 home runs; yet Bautista isn’t even being considered for the Most Valuable Player award. Felix Hernandez has as many wins as loses (12) but is first in the American League in earned-run-average and second in strikeouts, but his team, the Seattle Mariners, has the second worse record in all of baseball. These players have been more than dominant, but will most likely lose out because of their teams.

The MVP and CY Young are about dominance, about being feared, about solidifying yourself as a force for an entire year and proving that you are the best player in your league. A person’s team doesn’t directly affect how good or bad a player is. It’s not their fault their team is bad, and to restrict them from an award is absurd.

The teams that make the post season, or at least show a valiant run towards the post season, get the benefit of the doubt. They’ve taken their team somewhere and show that their worth is not only on the field from a personal standpoint but with their entire team as well. But, again, this award isn’t handed out for having the best teamwork, it’s to admire and reward an individual’s accomplishments. The World Series is the reward for good teamwork and for the overall best team, keep these rewards and arguments separate.